Suffering
by TakeHomeJulie
Summary: {A Bethyl Fix-It Fic} "I bet you missed me, huh?" Daryl had missed her, to the moon and back.


Beth Greene was brave and quiet that so many forgot she too was suffering.

Didn't matter to them that she had risen from the dead, finding her way back to the group in ways they never saw coming. Father Gabriel had read aloud a passage from his bible and Daryl had lowered her body into a shallow grave, sniffling quietly, and they'd moved on.

He'd explained it to her so many times while she closed her eyes, fingers tingly as they touched the side of her head and tears pricking at her eyes. Some nights she'd lie there, listen to her own shallow breaths and trying to figure out why she- of all those dead- got to rise from the dead as herself and not one of the monstrosity's.

Her mother didn't get to come back, or Shawn, not her dad, Lori, Jimmy, Zach, and of all those lost, she was the one who got to breathe again through lungs that weren't corrupted.

Beth felt it in the sunrise each moment; hope. She remembered the feeling of losing herself to the world then choking for air, and the next minute, she had a handful of dirt and she was coughing it from her mouth, mind blank and empty. Just the mention of Rick's name and she'd gone with Morgan, perking upright at the name, and she had followed him wordlessly. He'd taught her the ways of the weak, he'd call them, and so each time they passed a walker, they hid. There was no killing or bloodlust, just shallow breathes and movements that had to silent enough to never be heard.

It'd been when she'd heard voices and Morgan had instructed her to stay back, he'd scout the camp and call for her if it was safe.

She'd heard Rick's voice and wanted to run towards him at that moment, feeling her head ache and her heart pound. The possibility that she might have her family back was too much at that moment and Morgan had appeared through the tree line, smiling at her knowingly. Spotting everyone through the trees- those she called her family and a few strangers- she felt like a ghost. They were all sickly pale and before she could talk, she lifted her black hood, blonde hair spilling around her shoulders as she revealed herself to them but she knew they recognised her already. Just from the way she stopped in her tracks and her cowboy boots, which peeked out from beneath the long black cloak she was wearing.

It was Maggie who had acted first, dropping to the ground without a noise other than the shriek that escaped her throat. Glenn pulled her up, assuring her it wasn't another dream, whatever that meant, and Beth had walked quietly to her side, head bowed as she kneeled infront of her sister, putting a hand over her sister's cheek and lifting her head. It was a simple gesture but when she finally saw Maggie's face, it was pulled into a large grin. They sat like that for a while, Beth's hand cupping her sister's cheek and tears and snot covering their faces. It was only when she heard the sound of a baby crying that she perked up, standing slowly with bated breath, staring at the child kick its limbs while Rick held her and he was already walking towards Beth, arms outstretched for her to take Judy from him. She burrowed the child's face in her neck, squeezing her eyes shut again pale skin, and she felt the baby's body shake as she cried, her own body racking with sobs. It was when she heard a sharp intake of breath reach her ears, and she opened her eyes, did she see Daryl, eyes glassed over with tears he was likely holding back and there was no doubt in her mind that he had missed her _so_ bad. Judith was pulled back and she handed her off to Carl, ruffling his hair as she did, and she made her way towards Daryl, his body frozen and not a moment went by before she wrapped her arms around his chest, thankful for the familiar comfort and warmth it provided. He finally began to breathe again in her arms and she let out a light laugh as his hand rested on her elbow, feeling a flutter. It was just like the first embrace at the prison, after she'd lost Zach, and though it may have seemed awkward to the group, she felt his breath against her ear as he buried his face in her hair, crying softly, and it was more than she ever could've wished for. She didn't call him out on it, just hugged his body against hers, feeling her own tears welling in her eyes, and without any warning, she lifted her head, nudging her nose against his chin before he finally tipped it to look at her and her voice came out as a barely a whisper.

"I bet you missed me, huh?"

Daryl had missed her, to the moon and back. Each waking moment, he wished he had a rocket to take him there, just to see her again, but that would've be permanent. There would be no going back from death.

Funny, he used to think, how Beth rhymed with death.

Now, holding her hand as she slept, her stomach moving with shallow breathes and small squeezes of his hand in her dreams- nightmares, he'd grown to call them- as she shivered, and he moved closer, releasing her hand and instead offering warmth.

"Sleep, Beth," he groaned when her eyes flickered open, wide blue eyes searching the dark with curiosity and fear.

"Just making sure this wasn't a dream," she whispered, closing her eyes against her skin, chewing on the lower of her lip as he arm roped around her waist, holding her closer, afraid to let go.

"I know," he muttered into the darkness, his face buried in the hair fanning out behind her and soon her soft whispers of words he didn't understand turned to deep breathes and once again, she was asleep.

Daryl could watch her forever, the way her fingers twitched in her dreams and how her eyelids fluttered against her skin moments before she woke. They were all so Beth and all so beautiful.

He would miss her singing some days when she refused- which seemed far too often- and when she laughed, it didn't seem the same. Most of the time he was just glad to have her back. If she sung, it was like she was putting the stars in the skies, and when she laughed, it was like a soothing melody that could only just begin to scratch the surface of how much he loved her.

He missed- of all the things to miss- how kind she used to look. She had scars and marks, and though she still looked like the owner of a fountain of youth, she looked aged. It wasn't even in her skin, her eyes seemed dull and dead, like the lights in them had dimmed, and her smile seemed hollowed out and fake, like the very thought of ever being truly happy hurt.

Daryl didn't have a lot but with her, she was all he needed.

He held her small frame to his, feeling the way her chest heaved breaths as his hand rested on it and when she started to whisper words in her sleep, he gently pressed a kiss to her shoulder, her eyes flickering open.

"Nightmare," she whispered, placing her hand on his which rested on her stomach. "It was nothing."

"Not nothing," he grunted.

Her light laugh filled his ears and she turns to meet his gaze, pressing a gentle kiss to the tip of his dirty nose. Her lips feel warm against his skin and he wishes she was kissing him somewhere else but they're not like that, not yet. She's only just began to crawl out of the shell that her near-death left her in and she's no way near being Bethany Greene again, not right yet. Maybe at the hospital she'd have kissed him but all she got was a pat on the shoulder and she regretted not milking their reunion for all it was worth- running to him, parting his lips with hers and whispering 'I love you' over and over until finally the others tore her from him, telling her they needed to go.

She laid her small hand on Daryl's cheek, watching the way his eyes flickered curiously over her face before closing shut against his dirty skin.

"Go to sleep," she soothed, running her thumb across the skin of his cheek. "I'll be here when you wake, Daryl."

He nodded against his pillow, rain slowly splattering on the roof of their tent. "Sing."

Beth stared at him, confused. She knew he liked her singing but it was the first time since the funeral home he'd asked her to sing and she felt hurt pull at her heart. "Sure," she said, not missing the quick tug of the corner of his lip.

_'How could a heart like yours_

_Ever love a heart like mine?_

_How could I live before?_

_How could I have been so blind?_

_You opened up my eyes'_

**Review please. Might put up another chapter if you'd like, I'm writing a continuation right now! **

**Love,  
>Rachel. <strong>


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